1,000 signatures reached
To: Mark Raiff, superintendent of OLSD
Demand Olentangy Local School District be more inclusive and diversified in their Staff & Teachings
Olentangy Local School District (OLSD) needs to be held accountable for past inactions in which their students were victims of racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, etc. Taking responsibility would look like:
1. Hiring teachers and staff from a variety of backgrounds (i.e. people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, disabled individuals, etc) as opposed to hiring only white individuals as teachers, guidance counselors, and other staff.
a. Firing staff who have made racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, etc., remarks to a student (not putting them on paid leave).
2. Providing anti-discrimination as well as diversity and inclusion training to every employee of OLSD at the beginning of each school year, every year.
3. Providing students with an intersectional education (i.e. education that isn’t rooted in white supremacy).
a. Teaching students about African-American history (other than the history of slavery in America) such as Juneteenth, Malcom X, Black Panther Party (any positive form of black history as we are only taught the negative).
b.Teaching students about feminism outside of just Susan B. Anthony and the suffragette movement (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and current waves of feminism).
c. Teaching students about LGBTQ+ history (starting with the Stonewall Riots) all the way up to current issues.
d. Including LGBTQ+ sex education in health class
4. Mandatory class on diversity and inclusion beginning in Kindergarten continuously through 12th grade (grade appropriate topics, getting more difficult as the students get older).
a. Starting in middle school, offer electives specifically in African American studies, Native American studies, LGBTQ+ studies, progressive movements (feminism, LGBTQ+, Black Lives Matter, etc.).
5. Remove all forms of law enforcement from schools and substitute with more guidance counselors, social workers, crisis interventionists, etc.
1. Hiring teachers and staff from a variety of backgrounds (i.e. people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, disabled individuals, etc) as opposed to hiring only white individuals as teachers, guidance counselors, and other staff.
a. Firing staff who have made racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, etc., remarks to a student (not putting them on paid leave).
2. Providing anti-discrimination as well as diversity and inclusion training to every employee of OLSD at the beginning of each school year, every year.
3. Providing students with an intersectional education (i.e. education that isn’t rooted in white supremacy).
a. Teaching students about African-American history (other than the history of slavery in America) such as Juneteenth, Malcom X, Black Panther Party (any positive form of black history as we are only taught the negative).
b.Teaching students about feminism outside of just Susan B. Anthony and the suffragette movement (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and current waves of feminism).
c. Teaching students about LGBTQ+ history (starting with the Stonewall Riots) all the way up to current issues.
d. Including LGBTQ+ sex education in health class
4. Mandatory class on diversity and inclusion beginning in Kindergarten continuously through 12th grade (grade appropriate topics, getting more difficult as the students get older).
a. Starting in middle school, offer electives specifically in African American studies, Native American studies, LGBTQ+ studies, progressive movements (feminism, LGBTQ+, Black Lives Matter, etc.).
5. Remove all forms of law enforcement from schools and substitute with more guidance counselors, social workers, crisis interventionists, etc.
Why is this important?
Olentangy Local School District has a long history of not hiring people of color (especially for teaching positions) or providing an intersectional, diversified, honest education to its 21,711 students. As a former student, I can testify to never having had a teacher of color (I attended OLSD from 2nd to 12th grade), never learning about issues that didn’t specifically pertain to white people (severe lack of an intersectional education), lack of a feeling of safety in terms of bullying from students and teachers alike (even as a white student), lack of accountability and punishment for students and teachers who discriminated in any way towards other students. (For firsthand stories from current and former OLSD students in regards to discrimination against them, please see @dearolsd account on Instagram).
There is a severe lack of inclusivity for the students who attend any OLSD school from K-12 that happen to not be white, cis-sexual, straight (and, if attending any of the schools in the Powell area) wealthy. The onus should not be on these students to educate their peers and teachers about their oppressions and oppressors; this education needs to come from the teachers in the OLSD beginning in Kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.
It is an injustice to the hundreds of thousands of students that have passed through the halls of an OLSD school to have been denied the opportunity of an intersectional education. Going forward, it is imperative that the aforementioned major changes are made to OLSD. Note: This does not look like compulsory blanket apologies/statements made to students and parents of students across OLSD social media platforms.
Actions always speak louder than words. It is better late than never to take advantage of the opportunity to properly educate the current and the future students (and staff) of OLSD so that they can all truly flourish.
There is a severe lack of inclusivity for the students who attend any OLSD school from K-12 that happen to not be white, cis-sexual, straight (and, if attending any of the schools in the Powell area) wealthy. The onus should not be on these students to educate their peers and teachers about their oppressions and oppressors; this education needs to come from the teachers in the OLSD beginning in Kindergarten all the way through 12th grade.
It is an injustice to the hundreds of thousands of students that have passed through the halls of an OLSD school to have been denied the opportunity of an intersectional education. Going forward, it is imperative that the aforementioned major changes are made to OLSD. Note: This does not look like compulsory blanket apologies/statements made to students and parents of students across OLSD social media platforms.
Actions always speak louder than words. It is better late than never to take advantage of the opportunity to properly educate the current and the future students (and staff) of OLSD so that they can all truly flourish.